LeapRate Interview… Forex and CFD online trading platform Skilling announced last week that it has joined forces with Spotware’s cTrader to launch the industry’s first seamless integration.
Skilling’s clients can now trade across two different trading platforms inside a single Skilling account without the need to fund two different wallets or manage two trading accounts separately.
Put simply, we wanted to give our clients a choice which trading platform to use – our proprietary Skilling Trader, or a more advanced client–oriented cTrader. The issue you have with other brokers with multiple platforms is the need to fund two trading accounts separately, maintaining healthy margins across two different accounts, and also having two sets of trading activities. With this unique integration – everything you do in one trading platform will also be reflected in the other.
So, if you start trading gold on Skilling Trader, you will see this same position when you are using our cTrader platform. And vice versa. Goodbye two different free margins, two payment wallets and two trading accounts. With Skilling you will have one single trading account and a choice through which platform to execute your trades,” André Lavold, CEO of Skilling Group, said.
Alexander Geralis, Business Development Manager at Spotware, commented:
Embracing our “Traders First” motto, we always strive to deliver a platform that would add the utmost value to our traders. As traders are becoming accustomed to sophisticated, yet easy-to use-platforms, it’s more vital than ever for brokers to cater to traders needs and demands. Skilling’s cTrader solution is a great example of that.
This feature follows a series of innovations that Skilling has recently unveiled, including the launch of its new mobile app earlier this year.
We have an exciting product and business development roadmap going into 2020, and both I and the team are very excited about what lies ahead,” Mr. Lavold added.
André Lavold
Skilling Group CEO, André Lavold joins LeapRate today to discuss the new partnership in details, as well as key traders’ demands in 2019, crypto world and more.
LR: How successful was 2019 for Skilling – what has changed, what would you like to leave behind?
André: 2019 was a good year for Skilling and also the first year Skilling has been live. We have learnt a lot from our customers and strengthened our commitment to deliver unparalleled customer experience. Our customer facing assets, trading platform, execution engine, and mobile app have gone through significant transformation. And, while we’re happy with what we achieved, we are looking forward to delivering more in 2020.
LR: There was a lot of turmoil on the Forex market last year, what do you think has affected business the most and how brokers adapted?
André: I think they the key learning we have seen from the industry is the need for diversification both in terms of the products we offer and regulatory structure underpinning the business. With ESMA rules being extended, CySEC’s proposal on leverage and now uncertain future we face under post-Brexit FCA, it’s important to be diversified, so we can best adapt to changes.
LR: The seamless integration with Spotware’s cTrader is a unique feature and took you quite a long time to develop. Do let us know more about it and the benefits of it.
André: The idea was born from our first conversation with Spotware in 2018. We wanted to create a single customer experience in terms of pricing, execution and general trading conditions but give our customers the choice how to access these. So we came up with the idea of 2 platforms – proprietary Skilling Trader and existing cTrader – that can both be used to access a single Skilling account. Same trades, same balance, same pricing, same execution – the difference is the UI and overall customer-facing experience. We see man benefits in such approach – but the main one being tailoring different trading platforms to different customer segments, while keeping everyone in the same ecosystem. If a customer wants to switch from one platform to the other, they can do that without having to make separate deposit or close and open new trades in the new platform – all the data is shared in the background, so the fundamental trading stays the same.
LR: What were the key traders’ demands in 2019?
André: That’s a huge question in itself, and I don’t want to speak for everyone – but from our customers we’ve seen the need in flexibility, competitive pricing, superior mobile app offering and outstanding support from customer service and the trading desk – all of which we’ve been perfecting here, at Skilling.
LR: What is your opinion on the current market situation in the crypto industry? Are you still active in this area despite significant slowdown?
André: Cryptocurrencies, being unregulated through any monetary authority, can create adverse market outcomes and so it’s understandable the restrictions the industry currently places on them. We’re not heavily investing in these technologies, but we’re active in terms of supporting it via our core CFD arm of the business.
LR: What upcoming trends do you see emerging and making an impact on the industry in the next few years?
André: Regulatory changes stemming from Brexit is one to watch out for – depending how it develops it might have no role or might have a huge role in Europe. Maturing of emerging markets – Asia and Latin America is another one. And finally greater integration of trading products across the industry.
LR: What are your plans for the future? How do you plan to surprise your customers this year?
André: We have many things in our pipeline that we will start announcing shortly and also throughout the year. I won’t be revealing all the cards now, but will mention that our focus in 2020 will be on technology and product and so we’re aiming to be introducing exciting initiatives there.